mail: wild weather driving rain brings tornado watches and flooding to maryland. >> the massive tropical storm system is also packing high winds, and it's not over yet. hi, everybody. i'm mary bubala. >> i'm kai jackson. >> we have heavy rains from a tropical storm system that have been pounding our area most of the day. wjz was on north point blood in dundalk where the road was almost entirely washed out for much of the day in rosedale. firefighters take part in a swift water rescue. a drive around pulaski highway became trapped in some high water. outside right now, the winds are starting to pick up outside. the rain's still falling. you can see the winds by how

it's knocking our camera around at this point. wjz is live with first warning weather coverage. meteorologist bernadette woods and bob turk closely tracking the system. so how much rain has fallen and what's still to come? let's start with bob. >> take a look at radar. we're not done with this by any means. even though it's been quiet the last few hours in central maryland, look what's coming down to the south. a huge plume of moisture once again showing you how much rain has foulen. let's take a look at the current situation. very light rate around the baltimore area. heavier batches west of us. take a look at the rainfall totals. some of these are really impressive. look at this 6 inches, 6 inches, 8 to 10 in some. 8 inches, west of the city, 3, 3 on the eastern shore a lot less. you are getting heavy rain now. basically, that corridor across the bay anywhere from 6 to 8. some areas up to 10 inches of

rain. of course they keep changing all afternoon. >> that's right. these are the 3:00 numbers we're giving you right now. the overall map of where we saw the heaviest under the bright purple, 9.12 inches worth of rain. over 7 inches of rain in annapolis and in frederick, 4 1/2 inches of rain even the airport over 3 inches of rain. in always bury, you only saw the heavier rain is moving in our direction. that's how quickly it cuts off from 9 inofs to just a half inch. because of all of the rain that's come down, there's a lot going on, on this map and a lot of different colors. these are the flash flood warnings also in effect. in addition to the coastal flood warnings, there is a tornado watch. that's not showing up because of the flooding happening right now is superseding that.

we have a tornado threat in addition to all of this through 7:00 tonight. winds have become a factor for about the past two to three hours. the same winds 15 to 25 miles per hour gusting over 30 miles per hour, that is going to continue as we head through the evening hours. we are certainly not done with the storm. i have a lot more coming up. >> first warning coverage. derek valcourt has been in the storm all day. derek? >> reporter: it has been a wet and soggy afternoon. what a difference just a few hours makes here on route 40. if i were here just a few hours ago, i could have showed you i would have been up to my chin in water right now. this that's the difference. this entire area was washed out. things are turning back to normal along route 40. this has been one wet and soggy afternoon for much of maryland. the relentless rains with visibility low. in glenn bernie, cars unable to

cross furnace brook road. drivers took their chances on nursery road before police could stop them. >> we're probably going to shut it off there. >> reporter: some of the worst flooding on dun duck. many roads washed out and many drivers stranded. >> she just kept going and within seconds she's floating rolling the window down yelling and screaming help me, help me. all i could do was laugh. >> reporter: major flooding where water rose above the jersey wall. and nearby? >> i've never seen it this high in the 28 years i've lived here. more homes and businesses flooded just past romville boulevard. these waters started rising at 9:00 in the morning and still rushing. you can see how much debris has been carried away by the torrential rains. >> the water was up to the top of the bed of the white pickup truck. all of these cars that you are looking at from here on out were all under water.

>> reporter: overwhelmed streams and creeks swelled in the roadways as the counties opened emergency shelters and closed schools early. >> i think they should close schools early. >> reporter: neighborhoods became small rivers leaving homes with major basement flooding. much of maryland now left with major cleanup. in fact, here along pulaski highway, this gentleman is starting to clean out this drain. this was a major source of the drainage for the flooding that happened along pulaski highual. it got overwhelmed quickly. we are going to be showing you more pictures of the damage throughout maryland over the course of the next few hours. we're live in baltimore county. derek valcourt, wjz. >> the flooding also making a mess in the city. we'll take a live look at the promenade where you can see the water is up over the walkway.

the mayor is asking people in fells point and other low-lying areas to move their cars to higher ground. that's on the inner harbor with that water up over the promenade. the storm causing power outages across the state. 18,000 customers are without power. the most outages are in anne arundel county where 7500 customers are without power. in baltimore county, crews are working to restore 2300. in harford county, 2,000 are without power. light rail service is also affected by the storm. trees are down on lines north of coal spring station. right now, a bus bridge is taking people to north avenue to falls road. complete coverage continues with sharon gibala. sharon, we saw in derek's live shot, a number of roads are flooded or washed out altogether. >> reporter: that is true. there are way too many to mention or begin to try to mention so basically, if you have to head out in the rain,

keep in mind that you are likely to run into one of those roads. especially to the east of the city. meantime, as far as accidents go, we have one working right now 95 northbound approaching 195. a six-minute delay back to 100 there. that one at long gate parkway. another one on 97 northbound on the ram top westbound 100. north charles and harford at montebello. east belvedere at loch raven. debris at hempstead at route 482. a downed tree at bone that part and another downed tree at pleasantville road blocking all lanes. another one on bel air road blocking the right lane. there is a look at some of the spots affected as far as flooding goes. that is, again, a handful. north point road, several locations there. several locations on pulaski highway. dorsey is closed between central and 648.

meantime, a look at the speeds on the beltway. actually, not so bad this afternoon. looks lake a lot of people are avoiding going outside and as they should. it's nasty out there. there is a live look outside at the northwest side of the beltway at green spring avenue. wet roads, the traffic seems to be moving there. this traffic report's brought to you by the cochran firm. visit cochranfirm.com for a free consultation. back over to you. first warning weather coverage continues rate now. all day long you've been sending us pictures and some of them for us now vic? >> reporter: as you mentioned, a very busy day at wjz.com. we've been getting a look at the flooding across maryland thanks to the pictures you've been sending to us. desiree from dundalk says this is what it looked like around 10:00 today. to the south to chris, bay side beach. down to maryland's eastern

shore, julie on kent island sent us this picture of a flooded yard. finally this picture from glenn arm road flooded there, baltimore county. we have a lot nor pictures on the slide show here on wjz.com. if you want to send us a picture, click on the link at wjz.com. wjz is live in harford county. the area is hit especially hard by the storm. >> reporter: right now it is certainly a mess because right around 3:00 high tide threw the waters back up again. we're here at the marina. i'm looking at the water and the parking lot is covered with water. people are trying to stay far away from it. the main streets this morning were closed including union and revolution. many main streets were shut down, which is why many schools closed havre de grace middle and high school. then 1:00, all harford county schools with are closed. so it was a mess for commuters.

we spoke with lots of people throughout the day. one woman said it took an hour and a half to get to towson which is usually for her a 20- minute drive. right now, even though we're looking at the main streets, those appear to be clear. emergency crews are monitoring the radar and are expecting things to pick up again. we have a lot of emergency crews working 12-hour shifts through the night. again, they are watching to see if they have to shut the main roads down again which they say they won't be surprised if they have to do. all day long, our viewers have been sending us great pictures from their view. you can see their neighborhoods were completely flooded. everyone's just saying, you know, even though we tend to deal with this, havre de grace is low lying and we are at the mouth of the susquehanna, you know? it doesn't make it any easier every time they get pounded like this. they are just trying to clean up and wait to dry out like much of the state. kai? >> all right, thank you.

stay with "eyewitness news" and first warning weather coverage. remember, wjz is always on for instant updates and a look at live radar. long on at any time. 12 people remain in washington area hospitals today after a bus plunged off a highway in bethesda. some of the injured are children who were on a field trip in washington, d.c. the bus was on its way back to pennsylvania when it careened off a sky ramp on i-270 and plunged 40 feet to a road below. the bus driver was killed. the ntsb is helping maryland state police figure out what caused the accident. a giant safety warning today. fisher price is recalling more than 10 million children's products. alexis christoforous reports for wjz on when's included and why. on what's included and why. >> reporter: the giant recall includes 7 million of these fisher price tricycles. the problem is the plastic ignition key near the seat. if the child falls or sits on it it can cause injuries.

10 reports have been made of children being hurt. >> if these toys are in your home, parents should not allow their children to continue to play with them. >> reporter: the recall also covers more than 1 million healthy care easy clean and close to me high chairs. the problem here is these pegs on the back. they're supposed to be for storing the tray, but if children lean against them, it can be dangerous. the consumer products safety commission says at least 14 children have been hurt that way, seven needed stitches. because of possible choking hazards, nearly 3 million baby play zones have been recalled as well as little people wheelies sets. mattel owns fisher price. it said in a statement our actions reflect our continuing commitment to the safety of our products. consumer officials applaud the recall but say toymakers need to solve problems before products reach store shelves. >> we are vigilant in looking at all products for children to make sure that hazards are removed and that children will not be injured.

>> reporter: parents can call fisher price for free repairs to the recalled products. until then, they should take them away from their kids. in new york, alexis christoforous, wjz "eyewitness news." >> for more information on the recalled products, go to wjz.com and click on consumer news. still ahead at 4:00, emmanuel's exit. the speculation surrounding the white house chief of staff's plan for a political run. hollywood is mourning the loss of a '50s film icon. deadly accident. the tour boat captain behind the wheel of a vessel makes a surprising legal move. and our mixed weather mess continues. we'll update the tornado watch with the flash flooding warnings in your complete first warning weather forecast. olololololold gibbs canning com.

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looking live outside downtown baltimore where the patapsco river was flooded over the harborplace promenade. we'll have an update for you shortly. more speculation today on a major player in the president obama administration. white house chief of staff rahm emanuel reportedly told colleagues he's going to leave the white house tomorrow to begin his campaign for mayor of chicago. sources close to emmanuel says he well speak to voters monday during a tour of chicago. controversy today for california's gop gubernatorial candidate meg whitman. a former housekeeper says she hired her knowing she was undocumented in the united states but did nothing about it. nicky diaz worked for whitman from 2000 to 2009. whitman fired her last year when she started her campaign for governor. diaz hired attorney gloria allred to represent her in a lawsuit. hollywood is mourning the loss of a long-time talent

today. actor tony curtis has died. the oscar-nominated actor died of cardiac arrest. one of the most memorable roles was in "some like it hot." he had six children including jamie lee curtis. he was 85 years old. another down day on wall street. the markets were down for the second straight day. let's go to new york where alexis christoforous has tonight's cbs money watch. >> reporter: the economic recovery remains sluggish. the government says the economy grew at a weak 1.7% rate from april to june. that's significantly slower than the 3.7% growth rate seen in the first quarter. there is slightly encouraging news on the job front. weekly jobless claims fell by 16,000 next week.

employers may not be ramping up hiring but the pace of layoffs is slowing down. manufacturing in the chicago area unexpectedly rose last month. all those reports eased concerns that the economy will not fold back into a recession. a.i.g. has a deal to repay billions of government dollars received during the credit crisis. the plan could return a profit to taxpayers who footed the bill for a.i.g.'s near collapse two years ago. the insurance giant received a bailout package worth of $180 billion of taxpayer money. the post office gets a stamp of rejection. the federal commission that reagan lates the price of stamps turned down the request of a two cent hike. it would have raised the cost of a first class letter to 46 cents. instead it will stay at 44 cents. for more headlines, head to cbsmoneywatch.com. in new york, i'm alexis christoforous. it is the stuff from old movies and carnivals, but one man in north carolina takes his knife throwing very seriously.

richard wesen is the 2010 european knife throwing champion. the knives all 8 ounces of steel are very sharp and if thrown incorrectly could be deadly. richard's side kick is his wife, of course, of 37 years. she says she trusts her husband completely. well, who is that an old girlfriend? >> i don't know. >> oh, i think that's the reporter in the story maybe originally. >> not nice. >> that is not nice. >> that wasn't nice at all. still ahead, hospitalized for two days. we have an update for you on the health of former president jimmy carter. first, evidence some new research could change the way the medical world deals with attention deficit disorder. heavy rains, flooded roads and high winds. the tropical storm system isn't over. our first warning weather coverage continues. wjz 13's always on for the top stories on wjz.com for instant updates and first warning weather all the time,

click wjz.com. my dad is the supervisor of a train station and my mom's a teacher. my dad's an auto technician. my mom's a receptionist. i'm not sure i would have been able to afford college without the tuition freeze. while tuition in other states is rising out of reach... governor o'malley made the tough choice to freeze tuition. he made my dream of going to college into a reality. i'm the first in my family to go to college. my brother and i never would have been able to afford college. even though times were tough... governor o'malley kept his promise. there's never a doubt... there's never a doubt whose side he's on.

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what a day. you are looking at the inner harbor. the winds are kicking up because our camera's shaking all over the place. >> when's concerning about this is if you think this water on the promenade is bad now, it will get worse later. bernadette? >> we're headed toward low tide there. we had our high tide right around noon. it's been going down since then. low tide essentially at 5:45. that's measured at for the mchenry. it will ramp up but we have a lot of tides coming up and a lot more also. there is a little bit of a lull in the action as bob was talking about at the beginning of the show. it is not finished. take a look down to our south. this is the beginning of the intense rain. there are mass amounts of rain almost like a funnel all the way from the caribbean straight up the entire east coast. now this heavy rain on the eastern shore a batch of heavy rain right now in the city.

somewhat of a level. we have a lot of warnings to get to. flash flood warnings through 6:15. there's a lot going on in that map so we'll take you through this one. coastal flood warnings in effect until 5:00 a.m. on friday morning. in addition to that, and it doesn't show up on this map because of the flooding going on, but a tornado watch is in effect until 7:00 p.m. today. that is from about here all the way eastward. you can see it's in our legend in this part, too. when you have something that's already happening that supersedes a threat with a tornado watch. we've got a lot going on. as far as the winds go, those have been kicking up the past few hours. that's why the coastal flood warning is in effect. not only from the very mist, but the southeasterly wind is piling water up along the way. wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour. high tide cycles vary up and down the entire bay. for the mchenry, the next high tide is at 12:44. all of that flooding you saw at

the inner harbor during that low tide cycle. up and down, we reached a little earlier. it was farther north about 3:00 when we had the last high tide havre de grace. these will vary through tomorrow morning all of the high tides will be a few feet above average. this is the thing, too. the general idea is that it's making its way up the east coast. it is a fire hose of moisture from the tropics straight up the entire east coast and tapping into even more tropical moisture along the way. so not only do we have the heavy rains and winds kicking up but the entire threat going up into the entire system. it will continue because the next batch of heavy rain is on the way. that could last through tomorrow morning before it gets out of here. when it does, the winds stay out of the north. the sunshine will return and saturday somewhat of a great day here and really cool air is moving our way. out on the water, gail warnings

are in effect for a while longer. the winds pick up once again. tomorrow they will turn around to the northwest. more flooding rains tonight. high winds. the threat for severe weather, all of that comes to an end tomorrow morning. we will see sunshine return in the afternoon. those winds pick up a wind. this could last and we will keep an eye on this. there's another round of of a few inches worth of rain coming our way in about another two to three hours. we are definitely not done. a little bit of a break, people getting done during the rush hour. >> which is good. >> but there's more coming. >> so don't let your guard down. student suicide. the shocking stunt two classmates pulled with a teen jumping off the bridge to his death. floods force dozens to evacuate in north carolina. >> that's the same system drenching maryland right now. "eyewitness news" continues right after this. ♪

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it is 4:30 and 77 degrees and raining. hello, everyone. thanks for staying with us. i'm vic carter. den nice is off today. heavy rains from a tropical system have been plaguing the area since the overnight hours. if you had been outside, you likely have come across scenes like this one in montgomery county. drivers are getting stalled in dangerously rising waters. live look at the harbor cam as you can see a combination of rain and high tides on the wind pushing outside the harborplace. police have the area shut down right now. city residents who live in the low lying areas like fells point are also being asked to be on the lookout for possible flooding. wjz is live with first warning weather coverage. we're tracking the system. let's start now with bob. >> reporter: not even high tide yet. let's look at radar. we've had a bit of a break this

afternoon. look down to the south. there is a huge plume of moisture that will start moving in our direction not long from now. let's take a look at our local radar. as we look at this, i want to show you how much rain has fallen. quickly, we see a big hole there. down to our south, more rain down in that direction. as far as precipitation totals go, take a look at some of these numbers, 6 inches, a few spots have had 8. to the west of us, a lot less, 3, 4. eastern shore, ocean city to tell you the truth, ocean city has had on a trace of rain today. right now, it's partly sunny down there with a nice breeze. bernadette has another look at the rainfall totals. the winds are reaching around the region. bernadette? >> here's the numbers. patuxent 9.2 inches of rain. 7.5 in annapolis. this is what bob was just talking about in salisbury. there is a fine line where it

really drops off. we're getting mass amounts of that rain. we have another huge round with a couple of inches with that. we have flash flood warnings in effect for all of the green counties in there. the lime green is through 6:15. they continue to get extended so they probably will once again later. just keep checking back in. in addition to that, coastal flood warnings up and down the western side of the bay. even more so than that, we have a tornado watch in effect. the reason we have the warnings on top is because they are happening right now. the watch is still in effect. we'll have the full forecast coming up. vic? >> we know you will. thank you. first warning weather coverage continues. it's been out in the storm with derek valcourt and the cleanup is just beginning. >> reporter: we're here at golden ring road and stemmer's run road. you can see just how much water, how much flooding the area has seen over the course of the last five, six, seven hours or so.

neighbors say it got really bad around 9:00 this morning. water has just been rushing. you can see the debris off in the woods here. just how much stuff has been carried away by the rushing waters just a while ago. the water levels here were so high. some of the pooh 'em who live in the area say it was over the back of this flatbed here in the tow truck. it's so high it caused problems for this building. power units on the wall. the water levels were just about that height meaning this place has really lost power. major problems, all of these cars that have been parked back in here have been ruined because there's just been so much flooded waters. people here say they are going to be cleaning up for a long time. major losses for the businesses and homes just in this area here on the eastern side of baltimore county. derek valcourt, wjz "eyewitness news." >> thank you, derek for filing that report. the huge storm traveled up the east coast today leaving record amounts of rain in several places. our first warning weather

coverage continues now with randall pinkston. >> reporter: fast-moving floodwaters are making driving impossible in parts of virginia. roads are either washed out or shut down. some people had to leave their cars behind while others pushed their way out. firefighters rescued a woman after her car got stuck in the water. the only road into this henry county community flooded but some people refused to stay put. >> i'm going to work. the only way to get there is to go through that water. >> reporter: on the north carolina coast, the best way to get down the street is by boat. close to 2 feet of water have fallen on care row lynn that beach shutting -- carolina beach shutting down the ports of town. >> unbelievable. i've never seen anything like it. >> reporter: more is on the way. after of an early morning soaking, new york city got a break from the rain. high wind warnings and flood watches are in effect. meteorologists warn a tornado could hit. commuters in washington d.c. drove through high water, and there were a lot of accidents

on slick roads. in maryland, one bus smashed into the back of another injuring 25 people. >> most of the patients are minor nonlife-threatening injuries. >> reporter: for farm areas suffering through the drought, the rain is a welcomed sight. some homeowners are getting a sinking feeling as the waters rise. for them, the rain can't stop soon enough. in new york, randall pinkston, wjz "eyewitness news." let's check in on the roads right now with sharon gibala. hi, sharon. >> reporter: hi, vic. they are a mess especially with downed trees and flooded areas. we have a few accidents right now, four in the city. you want to watch for them on north charles at east mulberry and loch raven. the debris in hampstead is blocking north main street. a downed tree will be blocking harford road at bonapart. another one on pleasantville

road. that's blocking all lanes. another downed tree at bel air road blocking the right lane. a bunch of areas that are flooded, too many to mention all of them. some of them include north point road between german hill and willow, cars mill between highen and bellmede. dorsey road is closed and pulaski highway at erdman and dundalk trapped roads between north point boulevard. there is a look at your drive times and speed on the roadway. as far as volume, we're doing well. you can see traffic moving well on the beltway. it looks like drivers are enjoying this slight break in rain. there is a look at the west side at wilkins avenue and a look at 95 at 395. this traffic report is brought to you by disney on ice. see buzz light year and all of the toy story gang from october 27th thrthe 31st. get your tickets to disney on ice presents disney pixar's toy

story 3. back over to you. we invite to you stay with wjz for first warning weather coverage. it's always on for updates at any time. go to wjz.com. we'll have extensive live coverage from around the area coming up at 5:00 on "eyewitness news." it's been months since a tour boat accident claimed the lives of two people in philadelphia. now the case is headed to a pennsylvania courtroom. kai is in the newsroom with more. >> reporter: it's many lawsuits filed in the wake of the deadly accident. the tour boat's captain is suing the operators of the tugboat that pushed the huge bar notch his vessel in july. the tour boat capsized dumping the captain, his crew and 35 passengers into the water. two tourists drown. the captain says that accident left him with physical and mental injuries. the parents of the tourists killed filed their own lawsuits against the operators of the city and the tour boat. vic? >> thank you, kai.

the amphibious duck boat was stalled in the shipping channel when the 250 foot barge struck it. sadness and outrage on the campus of rutgers university after a student jumps off the george washington bridge days after his roommate but video of him with another man on the internet. many are shocked after the sudden death of freshman tyler clementi. the room nature and another girl are now facing charges for invasion of privacy. former president jimmy carter is getting back to work after a two-day stay in the hospital. he waved to onlookers today after being released by doctors. he has been recovering from a viral infection after two days of rest, the 85-year-old got the okay to resume his regular schedule. he's now in washington for a meeting later this week. in healthwatch, a new study is shedding light on attention deficit hyper

activity disorder. it should take some of the pressure off parents. sandra hughes reports for wjz. >> reporter: a new study finds attention deficit hyper activity disorder or adhd is genetic. marren already knew that. she has two sons with it. jonathan was diagnosed with adhd in kindergarten. >> i cannot control myself that much and i tend to get in a lot of fights. and my anger pops up and i always try to make it so i don't lose it. >> reporter: at the university of california at los angeles, the krombachs got life changing medication for jonathan. >> jonathan was medicated going into first grade and he is academically soaring in school. >> reporter: the british study involved genetic analysis of dna from 366 children from adhd

and 1,047 without the condition. the researchers found the children were more likely to have small dna segments duplicated or missing. >> we're a long way awray from a cure, but this is one step in a long pathway. >> reporter: adhd affects about 1 in 50 children making them restless, impulsive and distractible. the research shows adhd is not the parents' fault and it's not from too much sugar. >> for the critics who claim this is something made up by watching too much mtv, they are just wrong. that's actually harmful. this is rooted in biology. it's universally around the world causing real problems. >> reporter: researchers discovered adhd is not caused by one single genetic change, and they still have a lot to learn before they can figure out a cure. in los angeles, san have hughes, wjz "eyewitness news." >> the story appears in the latest issue of the lancest

medical journal. all of those mouth washes may not be as effective as originally claimed. johnson and johnson and cvs are ordered to stop saying they remove plaque and stop gum disease. they may prevent cavities but there is no evidence they do anything more. part silk worm, part copy cat. biologists make a major breakthrough in silk production. scientists say they created a new silk work capable of producing spider silk. that means the worms could make spider silk available for widespread production. scientists say spider silk is much stronger than other silks and could be used to make everything from sutures to bulletproof vests. straight ahead on wjz's "eyewitness news" at 4:00, making progress. a rescue to happen earlier than anticipated. two balloonists are lost in rough weather over the adriatic sea.

the soaking rains continue as a massive tropical storm system slowly moves through maryland. get your updated first warning weather forecast. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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there is some flash flooding all over the state after the remnants of a tropical storm sweep through the area. live right now in baltimore county. our first weather coverage continues. we'll check in with bob in a few minutes. the fbi released video footage of a devastating explosion that nearly rocked new york city in may. it shows the fbi detonating a prototype of the failed car bomb that was found in times square. experts say the device would have killed dozens of people and caused massive amounts of damage. faisal shahzad admitted to planting the bomb in a parked

suv. some good news for the miners trapped in chile. the miners could be set for an early rescue within the next two weeks. kai? >> reporter: it's certainly the kind of news the miners and families had hoped to hear. just last week, mining officials said rescue efforts would not be finished until early november. experts are now aiming for an earlier date. they say one of the drills has been making progress faster than expected. officials say they will be settingp a field hospital near the site to treat miners once they reach the surface. vic? >> the miners have been trapped underground for nearly two months now. as if battling a house fire wasn't hard enough, some firefighters in colorado had something else to worry about. the furniture inside this house attic was completely infested with bedbugs. firefighters had to have their gear bagged up afterwards to prevent the contamination. no one was hurt. crews say a downed power line started the fire. the search is on for two american balloonists who disappeared off the coast of italy.

the two had been missing since their signal was lost during thunderstorms yesterday. charlie d'agata has the latest. >> reporter: this is the last time anyone saw american balloonist richard abruzzo and carol davis. >> thanks, everybody. >> reporter: they took off into a sea of darkness off the english coast saturday morning. now european rescue teams are scouring the waters to find them. the partners were competing in the world's oldest balloon race to see who can fly the longest distance in a gas balloon. they drifted over france and italy then flew straight into heavy thunderstorms over the adriatic sea. their gps signal was lost wednesday morning 13 miles offuttly's coast and there's been no sign of them since. >> they have life rafts. they have survival suits and life jackets, of course. >> reporter: the pilots also had a satellite phone, two cell phones and plenty of experience. they won the event in 2004 and were determined to win this

year, too. but with the race now over, their supporters are just hoping they survived. in london, charlie d'agata, wjz "eyewitness news." davis is a radiologist and abruzzo from new mexico is from a ballooning family. his father ben was part of the first ballooning team to cross the pacific in 1981. the first warning coverage of the tropical system crossing maryland. mike? >> reporter: hello, vic. we under bowley's quarters in the essex area of baltimore county. we're seeing high tide was 11:00 this afternoon. as you can see, the tide is going out, however the wind is keeping the water in and this is in the middle river area of baltimore county. you can see that folks down here, this is not unusual for them, although the water is significantly higher than it has been at any other time this year and at this point, it

looks like the water's expected to be receding until later this evening when again we'll have another high tide. with the wind staying out of the south it's likely that that one will be higher. baltimore county officials had their helicopter down here watching this water in the essex and middle river area. and right now, they believe it's not a hazard to any homes. you can see it's right up against the bulk head and the bottom of the dwellings. back to you. the rain keeps swelling, the tide's coming in. bob turk has the updated first warning weather forecast after this commercial break. ♪

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♪ maryland residents can save up to $780 while funds last. two governors, two different approaches. even in good times bob ehrlich did not make education a priority. he increased college tuition by 40%, cut school construction by $200 million, and ehrlich voted to eliminate the department of education while serving in congress. but martin o'malley, even in the toughest of times, has made record investments in public schools, new school construction, and o'malley froze college tuition four years in a row. with martin o'malley, our children always come first.

it's not even high tide in baltimore county so expect it to get higher later tonight. we'll show that to you in minutes. the bay being pushed up from the strong, southerly winds. take a look at radar. still a lot of it down to our south. that's what will hit us tonight. even though we're in a bit of a break right now. there is a batch out to the west. there is another batch south of our region. this is also being transported due north so look for more heavy rain tonight at least several hours.

we could see another 1 to 3 inches of rain yet tonight. that's just going to make the situation worse. take a look at the advisories. still flash flood washings in effect for most of central warning. we have a watch in effect through carol county. that's until 7:00. needless to say, if you are out today and you come across the stream over a road, do not go across it. it's 6 to 8 inches of watter that can take your car away. turn around, don't drown. you can see storms tonight with heavy rainfall. right now, winds out of the southeast that keeps pushing the water up the bay. the bay is a huge bathtub so the water is coming right up the bay until the winds shift from the northwest. that won't happen until later tonight and it will still be dealing with the high tides. out to the west, 10, dead calm out in cumberland.

during the high tides, 1:35 in the morning. even though we're in for the high tide late this morning. come back up late tonight. annapolis tonight, chesapeake beach later tonight. port deposit coming up very, very shortly as you can see. we just had that so there may be more additional flooding. all of this tropical moisture is coming right up from the caribbean from cuba to the east of the florida area. you can see one cell moving past this. look at this rain up to maine all the way through our region through the carolinas. the last batch will take several hours to get through here. we still have the tropical move that will continue through the night into tomorrow morning and will be dealing with more flooding around the region. eventually, all of the systems move out. by friday afternoon, drier air

starts the cooldown. very pleasant and cool for the weekend. winds on the bay may gust to 40 knots. tonight then still more rain can be heavy and more flooding likely. 64 tomorrow and gusty winds as well. tomorrow the rain will probably end in the morning with afternoon sunshine and a breeze drying things out. tomorrow's high up around 72 degrees. once again, dangerous situation in many, many areas because of the flooding. many small streams and rivers. >> okay. thank you very much, bob. still to come on "eyewitness news" tonight -- >> heavy rains soaking and flooding much of maryland. i'm derek valcourt. coming up on "eyewitness news," i'll tell you where some of the worst flooding is and how bad [ female announcer ] remember this promise? [ man ] martin o'malley -- taking on bg&e to stop the rate hikes. [ female announcer ] never happened -- your bill went up 72%. and o'malley gave the bureaucrat who approved the rate hike a huge raise. now martin o'malley promises we're moving forward. the fact of the matter is our economy is doing much better now.

[ female announcer ] really? nearly 7,000 marylanders lost their jobs last month. four years ago, martin o'malley misled us. now he's just making stuff up. bob ehrlich. we can do better. now he's j♪ t making stuff up. ♪ [ female announcer ] mcdonald's new chicken flatbreads. all out awesome combinations of juicy, grilled chicken topped with roasted garlic aioli and a natural four-cheese blend. mcdonald's chicken flatbreads. the simple joy of new discoveries.

coming up next. when wyll we see the relief? wjz's got live tracking radar. i'm kelly mcferson in fell's point where the water is already starting to flood some parking lots and streets. coming up on "eyewitness news," we'll hear from the mayor and show you the storm's impacts in the city of baltimore. heavy rain and strong winds continue to pound through harford county causing a lot of challenges for people who live here. i'm weijia jiang with that part of the team weather coverage next on wjz "eyewitness news." checking on the day's breaking news. "eyewitness news" at 5:00 starts now. captions by: caption colorado, llc (800) 775-7838 e-mail: